Instinct
by ur1onlybravecoward
Summary: If Love over there is spending all her time being patient and kind, then she doesn't have any time to be worrisome, over protective, and jealous as well. That's where Instinct comes in.


Hey! So I wrote this randomly about a year ago and I just recently found and revised it. please, tell me what you think!

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I sat down and began to concentrate, sinking deeper and deeper into my own mind, passing more and more of my own thoughts. I kept going until all coherent thought was left long behind me, leaving only raw emotion and bright images in its wake. And then I kept going. Digging deeper within myself until I found what I was looking for. Nevermore. Here my emotions became raw and separated, each so their own element that they took on human form, separating so much that they each owned their own domain within my mind.

I was left on a blank stretch of soil. It was dark, like night, but everything was clear and defined, lit with an eerie inner light. The sky was a velvety purple-black with white planets and stars peppering it's broad expanse. This part of my mind was left a blank slate, ready to be turned into anything I desire. But today I had a mission, I couldn't be fooling around with a blank landscape.

My hurried steps were loud in the blank nothingness, echoing off the rocky ground in this part of my mind. I crossed under a trellis of rock leading to Knowledge's domain. She was my most prominent emotion at the time, though Wisdom was there too. Their yellow and brown cloaks swirled around their legs as they stood up to follow, matching my fast gait.

"We must get there quickly." Wisdom reminded me. "Time is running out. I'm afraid we may already be too late."

I nodded my head and quickened my pace.

Next I passed through Timid and Sadness, who were together. Again. But strangely, Happy was there too, only heightening my sense of urgency. Then Rage, Jealousy, and Annoyance. As I continued walking I gathered all my emotions, making sure I had everyone surrounding me. Then we started to fly, our speed eating up the ground below us.

"Quickly now," Wisdom urged, "I'm beginning to fear the worst!"

We flew above the portal to the real world and over the rough terrain; another rock terrace loomed in front of us. We flew right through without pausing.

Once I saw another clone of myself I dropped to the ground beside her, my emotions following suit. This one's cloak was the faded yellowish-brown of an old photograph; even her skin and hair were in that aged state. The only things that seemed to be untouched by time were her eyes. Large and wondrous, there was a weight to them, as if they had seen the world. This was my Memory Keeper. Not an emotion, but rather, the mother of them all.

"Where is it?" I asked hurriedly, readying myself to fight, black magic pooling around my hands.

"Your too late," Memory responded calmly pushing my arms back to my sides. "I told you it was a lost cause. You cannot halt the birth of an emotion."

"You're part of me, you should know how dangerous this one could be!" I pleaded hoping to find an answer. "Are you sure there's no way of destroying it now?"

"There is no way you could kill them without harming yourself gravely. You can only take away the fuel source." She indicated the pool of water behind her in a broad sweep of her hand. Images of people and places floated to the top and sunk back down into the cloudy water, an ever-playing movie of my life. I toyed with the idea of destroying my memories to cut off the new emotions food supply, but Wisdom came up to my side trailing Knowledge.

"You know you can't do that. He's to close; you've been living together for far too long to take it all away. It would leave you hopelessly confused, to say the least."

"Yes, I suppose your right." I sighed, my shoulders drooping in defeat. I turned to Memory. "Then I should meet this new emotion and see if she can be restrained. Please take me to her."

"Them," she corrected me quietly.

"What?" Knowledge and I asked together.

"It seems we miscalculated." Her voice is still quiet and calming, "There are two new emotions."

"What?" I asked again, my mind spinning. "But how? Why-? . . . I don't understand." I finally settle on saying, too many questions flying around my head to ask just one.

"I think you should see for yourself."

Turning away she lead us to a trail that cut through an old forest.

"They both came out of the pool this morning." She said over her shoulder as we walked, "It baffled me at first, but once I talked with the second one for a little while it all became clear." As she was talking we went through the wooded area and entered a clearing, in it where two hooded figures. One in a soft pink cloak, the same color as a rose, or the beginning of a sunset, was sitting on a rock quietly staring up at the sky. The other figure was cloaked in black, standing beside the boulder; her hood was up, so Raven couldn't tell if she was looking their way or not. As they approached the pair the pink one slid down off the rock and hid in her cloak, quietly waiting for them to come to her.

"Raven," said Memory, "this is Love."

Love gave a soft smile, her eyes shy. "Hello Raven." She said.

It was always awkward to introduce yourself to a new emotion face to face. I mean, what do you say? 'Hi, I'm Raven, welcome to me head, try not to mess it up too bad?' But Love just waited patiently for me to catch up and assess the situation.

"So, you're Love," I finally broke the silence.

"It's very nice to meet you all, I'm afraid I don't know any of your names," Love responded, a slight blush painting her cheeks.

"Oh, well. We can at least get that out of the way." Memory butted in and started introducing everyone to the new emotion, who nodded and smiled at each of them in turn. All the emotions converged on her at once, talking to her and trying to get to know her. Memory had to pull me aside to finish the introductions.

"And that," Memory said motioning to the black clad figure hiding in the shadow of the rock, "is Instinct."

"That's not an emotion," I remarked, baffled at the name.

"Yes, I know, but the English language is too inept to give a name to this one."

"I don't follow," skepticism laced my words.

"Well, you know the saying 'Love is patient Love is kind?"

"Yeah, I've heard it before."

"Well if Love over there is spending all her time being patient and kind, then she doesn't have any time to be worrisome, over protective, and jealous as well. That's where Instinct comes in."

"So is Instinct good or bad for me?" I asked, getting right to the point.

"A bit more complex than that, I'm afraid. You see she's the one who makes you willing to _die_ for your lover. She is the one who makes you risk it all on that other person. She is the reckless, protective, animalistic, and volatile side of love. To put it in Layman's terms, she's what makes love bad-ass."

"So, she's bad," I surmised, still not getting it.

"Yes, in a way, she's the one who made Juliet stab herself for Romeo, but she's also the one who makes women able to lift cars to save their babies, and she gave you the strength to stand up to your father to save your friends. She's Bravery, Jealousy, Love, and something else all thrown together . . . I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this very well," Memory scratched her head, trying to think of what else to say.

"No, I think I get it. But why isn't she doing anything? She doesn't look like what you just described. She's just sitting there."

"Well, she's not much of a conversationist either, but just look what happens if Love gets threatened."

Looking over to the group of emotions I saw Love introduce herself to Rage. I was too far out of ear shot to hear what they said but I could see Rage raise a fist as if to strike Love, who stepped way. In a flash Instinct was there, flipping a hand up to knock the blow away and kneeing Rage in the stomach. Rage doubled over wheezing and the black emotion hits her in the back of the head with a final WHAP! Rage fell to the ground unconscious, the entire fight taking a total of five seconds.

"Fine, she's what makes Love cool. But I still have one question: why is she here if my love isn't even answered?"

"Raven," Memory turned to look me in the eye. "You realize I function on a conscious and a sub-conscious level, as do all your emotions. You only _think_ your love is unanswered. You don't _know_. Second, you don't need to have someone love you back to feel the need to protect him or her," she sighed, suddenly looking tired. "Listen, I think your new emotions are good for now. You look exhausted, and you need your sleep. Stop meditating and go to bed, I'll show these two around while you take a nap."

"Okay," Raven relented, realizing she was right. "Thank you, Memory. Make sure they don't make too much trouble."

"Oh, I can't do that Raven. That's your job."

"What do you mean?"

"These two will only grow and become a bigger nuisance the longer you keep them hidden. The more you suppress your feelings, the more likely they are to come out another way."

"I ask again. What do you mean, Memory?" I didn't like the way this was turning out.

"Raven, unless you tell him how you feel, Instinct will likely find a way to take over. Only momentarily of course, but in a fight that could be the end of you."

"Okay, thanks for the heads up. I'll think about it." And with those parting words I slipped out of my own head.

Getting up I checked myself in the mirror. Setting my shoulders, I walked into the hall to find the boy who had produced both Love and Instinct. I had to tell him, it could be dangerous if I didn't. Stealing myself, I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Um, Beastboy, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

He turned around with a smile that made my stomach shiver and nodded his head. "Sure, Rae, what about?"

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Sending you all love!


End file.
